Make Security a Lifestyle, Not Just a Job

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and there’s never been a better time to evaluate your organization’s security culture and ensure all have adopted key security behaviors that will help to protect themselves and the organization from ransomware and other top threats. We each have a role to play when it comes to our collective safety online. The way we best stay protected is by banding together and adopting cyber safety as part of our lifestyle. Because we each have a lot to lose, it’s up to us to make the right moves.

Ransomware Defense: Key Security Behaviors to Adopt

We can adjust our behaviors in several easy ways that can make a significant difference in security efforts.

Fight the Phish

Phishing is a form of social engineering that uses email, social media posts, or a direct messaging service to lure you into clicking on malicious links that ultimately lead to you inadvertently giving away personal information or downloading an infected attachment. As our digital connectiveness has risen over the years, so too has our vulnerability to phishing attacks. Keep a lookout for some of the top signals of a phishing attempt. What are those signals?

Mind Your Passwords

Did you know that two out of every five people have had their identities stolen, passwords compromised, or sensitive information breached because of duplicate or weak passwords? Now, more than ever, is the time to equip our workforce and the community at large, with the right tools and best practices to defend against evolving cybersecurity threats. Creating strong and secure passwords is a good place to start.

Lock Down Devices

Digital devices such as smartphones and tablets have become a major part of our lives, which means there are more points of entry for malicious hackers than in years past. Locking your devices and keeping the software up to date can go a long way toward making it harder for attackers to exploit these devices. 

Get our box set of free resources and explore our tip sheets here.

More Valuable Resources

In addition to our box set of resources and tip sheets mentioned above, we have loads more resources that will help you make cyber security part of your lifestyle. Listen to our fun jingle below and don’t miss these upcoming events!

Join the Livestream Tuesday, October 11 at 1 PM ET

SANS Certified Instructor, Ryan Chapman, will offer insight into what he considers to be best practices for ransomware prevention from a security awareness perspective including tips for password hygiene, phishing avoidance, and device security. Set a reminder here.

Tune In to Watch This Month’s Security Awareness Webcast, Managing Human Risk, October 20 at 1 PM ET
SANS Security Awareness Expert, Lance Spitzner, will join The Register’s Tim Phillips to discuss how to invest more in mitigating human risk in your organization. You can register to attend that webcast here.

Also, join in the fun on social. We’ll be holding a parody music contest, so follow @SANSAwareness on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for more details.